Category: India

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SARTHI: A Special Day Trip to Patna

India a special day trip to patna

In July 2021 schools had to close again due to Covid-19 and the children were once more supported at home by their teacher and staff from SARTHI. Twenty children remain involved in the reintegration into education project in Bihar. The three main subjects that they have been studying are Hindi, English and Maths and since schools re-opened on October 1st their progress over the previous three months has been assessed through the use of comprehension exercises and quizzes. The children should be ready to move to the next academic level in January 2022.

On October 24th, a long awaited programme for the children turned into a reality when we combined our orientation programme with a special excursion for them over the weekend. They visited Patna to see the famous Golghar and the Srikrishna Science Centre. The children enjoyed the day a lot as well as the lunch that was provided.

Finally, in the late afternoon, the children also participated in a discussion with a Child Protection Officer and a social activist, who had both been invited to speak to them on the subject of ‘Children’s Rights and Education’. The children enjoyed participating in the discussion and then returned home safely.

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Rotary Club of Madras Boys Town Project: Academic progress of students

Eleven students from the XIIth Std. returned to Boys Town in Gummidipoondi in April as their examinations were scheduled to begin from 3rd May 2021. Due to the spread of Covid-19, the Government of Tamil Nadu then further postponed the examinations and instructed staff to send all the boys back to their respective homes. Two days ago, the State Government announced the cancellation of the XIIth Std. examinations and said that these students will graduate from school based on criteria which are yet to be confirmed. We await news of  their progression to university or college. The XIth Std. examinations have also been cancelled and all eight students will progress to the XIIth Std.

Students in the VIIIth-Xth Stds. have been supported at home but their examinations were also cancelled. Nevertheless, all of them will progress to the next academic level.

In the academic year 2020-21, the total number of students enrolled was seventy three. New admissions for 2021-22 are expected to take place in two to three months but due to the pandemic, we have no confirmation as yet of numbers and exact dates. In the meantime staff are planning additional skills development initiatives, extra-curricular activities and online tuition for students in the Xth to XIIth Stds.

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SARTHI: Feedback from pupils and teachers in Bihar, India

The team at SARTHI has continued to work with the children of migrant workers in Patna. Originally, eleven girls and nine boys aged six to sixteen were targeted for readmission to Bhawani Tola school but eventually thirty-six children were enrolled. Schools are currently closed again but lockdown is easing week by week. Schools may reopen in mid-July but this has yet to be confirmed.

Staff from SARTHI asked the children and their teachers to give feedback about the impact of the project on their life and work.

Puja (16 years of age) says that before Covid-19 she was going to school regularly but due to the pandemic her father lost his job in Delhi and returned to their village. After a while, her family had financial problems and she stopped going to school and had to work to help sustain the family. Later on, Puja’s father was offered the opportunity for her to have an arranged marriage and this is when she came into contact with SARTHI because she was being put under a lot of pressure from her parents to accept the proposal. “I am very thankful to the team at SARTHI because after several meetings with them as well as further counselling and support for our family, my marriage did not go ahead. Family life has improved considerably and I am much happier both at home and at school.”

Sunny (15 years of age) was studying in the 9th Grade at school but due to lockdown, schools had to close and there was a financial crisis in the family. His father suggested that he could help by leaving school and looking for casual work. Sunny felt under pressure and it was during this period that he came into contact with the team from SARTHI, who then assessed the situation on his behalf. “After some family counselling sessions, my father agreed that I could continue my studies as soon as schools reopen.”

Raju K. (Teacher) “SARTHI has helped to protect these children by strengthening family relationships and encouraging parents to send them back to our school.”

Usha K. (Teacher) “Without the support of the team at SARTHI, we could not have got these children readmitted to our school and their parents would have sent them out to work at a young age. Many of the girls would have got married too. I heartily appreciate the work of SARTHI because they have been able to minimise the level of exploitation within families.”

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Rotary Club of Madras Boys Town: Phased return to school in Gummidipoondi, India

In  2021, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced the reopening of schools for children in the XIth and XIIth Stds. from the third week of January.  As a result, nineteen students were able to return to Boys Town in Gummidipoondi to attend their normal classes from the 20th January.  Subsequently, the Government also announced the reopening of schools for children in the  IXth and Xth Stds. from the 16th February and so a further group of sixteen students joined the others in Boys Town. 

All students were advised to get a COVID-19 test done before arrival and all of them arrived back at the school with certificates stating that their results were negative. Staff at Boys Town are also following the health and safety guidance set out by local government authorities.

The annual examination dates for the XIIth Std.  have been announced and will run from the 3rd May to the 21st May 2021. Teachers are helping students to be fully prepared for the final examinations by giving them extra tuition and tutorials after school hours. The examination schedules for the IXth, Xth and XIth Stds. have yet to be announced.

Classes for students in the VIIth and  VIIIth Stds. are still not functional, but teachers are in touch with the students and their families and providing them with appropriate guidance and support as needed.

To monitor the students’ return to Boys Town a few club members visited them on the 26th January to celebrate Republic Day. In addition, on the 26th February, the Governor of  Rotary District 3232, visited Boys Town and spent some time with the students.

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SARTHI: Community awareness on child’s education and development in Bihar, India

In Bihar, we continue to support the reintegration of twenty children into education. They are the sons and daughters of migrant workers in Maner, Patna. In February the team from SARTHI held a community awareness meeting to take stock of the situation regarding COVID-19 and to assess the parents’ readiness for their children to be admitted to school. All the families present agreed that they were fully prepared to apply for admission and wanted to send their children to school as soon as the situation allowed. 

The team also talked with the parents as a separate group, about the type of family issues that may impact on the future lives of the children if they neglect to send them to school. In addition, families shared their thoughts about the rights of children and the role of parents in a child’s development. It was reassuring to note that the parents are becoming more aware about the rights of their children and their role in supporting their education. Since March, schools have been able to reopen which allow for 50% attendance by children on alternate days. On the 9th March, twelve children out of twenty were admitted to the school and the admission of the other children is currently being processed.

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SARTHI: Education for poor households of migrant workers in Bihar, India

In Bihar, we support twenty families of migrant workers and are taking measures to help to get their school-age children back into education. 

In October 2020, we visited a village in Maner, Patna and met with teachers, families and members of the Panchayati Raj Institution, a rural local governing council, since schools were still closed. An orientation workshop was later delivered to the families of the children whose reintegration into education is sponsored by ICT. During the session, we talked to parents about children’s rights and the benefits of continued education to help break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. In rural areas, girls often finish their education early in order to do domestic work, care for their siblings or get married; and boys are more likely to become involved in child labour and encouraged to migrate from their villages for work. On this occasion, we distributed educational materials such as notebooks, pens, pencils, rubbers and pencil sharpeners to thirty-two children to motivate them to do some work at home and to prepare for their return to school. 

In mid-November we held a teacher training programme at the Bhawani Tola Middle School in Maner, one of our partner schools in this programme. This was led by two members of staff from our partner SARTHI, and attended by the headteacher and six teachers from the school. The theme of this programme was ‘Children’s Rights and the Education of Marginalised Children, Especially those of Migrant Workers During the Covid-19 Pandemic’.

We began with a discussion around different articles from the ‘UN Convention on the Rights of the Child’ and the ‘Right to Education Act in India’. Staff from the school agreed that the education of the children had been severely disrupted and were keen to identify ways in which we could work together to readmit and reintegrate the children to ensure their continuing education during the pandemic.

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Rotary Club of Madras Boys Town Gummidipoondi: Coordinated efforts to ensure continuity of learning during school closures in India

Since schools were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic in March, all boys have been staying at their respective homes. The team has been able to remain in contact with them by phone on a fortnightly basis and everyone remains in good health. During this time, books from the school have also been couriered to students to allow them to continue studying. As and when the Government of Tamil Nadu gives permission for schools to reopen, students will be readmitted to Boys Town.

It is expected that in the first instance, schools might reopen for the XIth and XIIth Standards which will involve twenty six students for the academic year 2020-21 at Boys Town. The remaining students will have a phased return as per Government rules.

Students from the IXth and Xth Standards are also under tremendous pressure to cover the academic syllabus and they will be the next group to return as they too need a significant amount of guidance and support. In the meantime, students in all four groups are expected to receive a tablet with sim card and wifi to enable them to attend online classes and tutorials from their respective homes. This initiative was launched by our partner and will target 40 students.

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Child Sponsorship in India and Covid-19

News: The Rotary Club of Madras Boys Town Project in Gummidipoondi.

All schools in Tamil Nadu have been closed since mid-March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They are likely to re-open in October or November depending on government guidelines.

All students at Boys Town in Gummidipoondi are safe and well and are currently staying with relatives in their respective homes. Colleagues from Boys Town and the Rotary Club of Madras are in contact with these families on a fortnightly basis in order to enquire about their health and safety and to support them when specific needs arise.

The government of Tamil Nadu has allowed all boys from the VIth to the Xth Standards to progress up a year based on internal assessments and mid-term exam results. All students in the XIth and XIIth Standards passed their exams successfully.

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Children’s education ‘on hold’ during the Coronavirus lockdown.

India

No major activities were planned at Boys Town Gummidipoondi during March, due to final examinations taking place. Regrettably, because of the subsequent curfew and lockdown, the examinations for students in the 6th, 9th, 10th and 11th Standards were cancelled and seventy two students had to return home to live with their parents/guardians. The 12th Standard examinations took place on the 24th of March, when the country’s lockdown was announced so ten students had to remain at the village with staff. Food and essential items were made available to them and everyone remained in good health and followed their usual routines. The students were also able to spend time in the grounds engaged in gardening activities and housekeeping tasks took place in the evenings. They have since been able to return home.

In June, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced the cancellation of public examinations for all students in the 10th and 11th Standards and declared that they have “passed” their examinations. The 12th Standard exam results should be out soon.

Sri Lanka

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, schools and pre-schools have remained closed, including our ‘Saplings’ pre-school in Ratmalana. Before lockdown, teachers managed to visit most of the families and gave workbooks to the children so that their parents could help them at home. Staff remain in regular contact with the families by telephone. Until the lockdown, there were twenty nine children attending the project – sixteen girls and thirteen boys aged between three and five years.

The Government has made a decision to reopen pre-schools on July 1st.

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News of a Former Sponsored Student at the Boys Town Project in India

We were delighted to hear more about how our sponsorship scheme with the Rotary Club of Madras has enabled children to gain access to education and achieve a great deal as a result.

Aariv was sponsored through ICT and studied at Boys Town from 2002-2012. During his first year at the school, his father passed away, leaving his mother to care for him and his two siblings. Thanks to his sponsorship and free access to education, Aariv became the first student to graduate in Electrical Engineering from Boys Town. After that he was employed as an Instructor on vocational training courses. Currently he is working as an Assistant Electrical Engineer for an electrical contracting company in Dubai and is earning a good salary. He also continues to support students at Boys Town by paying their Higher Education fees. On February 10th 2020 Aariv got married, and he and his family are very happy and grateful for the support that they received in helping him to have access to an education and a career.